Human neoplasms elicit multiple specific immune responses in the autologous host.

TLDR

Sequence analyses indicate that many of these tumor‑associated molecules may also contribute to tumor growth. Serological screening of autologous tumor cDNA libraries identified multiple tumor‑specific antigens, including known and novel proteins, whose antibody responses were confined to patients with the same tumor type, demonstrating that human cancers elicit diverse specific immune responses and offering diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities.

Abstract

Expression of cDNA libraries from human melanoma, renal cancer, astrocytoma, and Hodgkin disease in Escherichia coli and screening for clones reactive with high-titer IgG antibodies in autologous patient serum lead to the discovery of at least four antigens with a restricted expression pattern in each tumor. Besides antigens known to elicit T-cell responses, such as MAGE-1 and tyrosinase, numerous additional antigens that were overexpressed or specifically expressed in tumors of the same type were identified. Sequence analyses suggest that many of these molecules, besides being the target of a specific immune response, might be of relevance for tumor growth. Antibodies to a given antigen were usually confined to patients with the same tumor type. The unexpected frequency of human tumor antigens, which can be readily defined at the molecular level by the serological analysis of autologous tumor cDNA expression cloning, indicates that human neoplasms elicit multiple specific immune responses in the autologous host and provides diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to human cancer.